Mastering Chef Griddle Styles in the Home

There is no end to the variety of delicious burgers you can make, but here are 12 that will make your mouth water.

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt composes a column for The New york city Times on food and science, and he develops dishes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is also the developer and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and article become part of, our series on kitchen area basics.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food author and cookbook author, I have actually spent the last 2 decades of my career carefully looking into and evaluating dishes, techniques and widely accepted kitchen area wisdom to find out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've run numerous hamburger joints and even wrote a monthly column for Serious Eats called the Burger Lab, in which I separated and tested every possible variable that can impact the flavor and texture of a burger.

Here are the most essential pointers I've found for optimizing your burger experience, whether in the backyard or the cooking area. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Advanced Cooking Techniques for Superior Hand-Pressed Patties

In bread, this can be a good idea, however with burgers, overhandling can produce an unwanted thick texture. (Integrating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional spices, like onions and herbs, likewise forces you to strain the meat and distract from the beef flavor, so skip it.) Salting the outside of your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

This is an excellent thing in sausages, which should have a firm texture, but with hamburgers, you desire looseness. A burger must be tender, with plenty of pockets for juices and rendered fat to gather.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Browning your patties deeply takes full advantage of flavor. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Whether you're making a big hamburger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash burger on a griddle, browning is taste, and high heat is essential. For thicker grilled or griddled burgers, wait until your pan or grill is hot before adding the patties, and cook them up until they're well browned on both sides.

This makes the most of taste while maintaining juiciness. Do not let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Burgers are at their finest fresh from the fire, before any juices have actually had an opportunity to leak out.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Delicious Outdoor Dinner Ideas for the Future

Upgraded May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI have actually constantly been a burger enthusiast. If there were any little melty American cheese leavings stuck on the wrapper, I 'd drag my french fries through them (I still do this).

Catch me on the ideal day and I might admit that a cheeseburger is my favorite food. Even if you do, it's most likely we don't have the very same idea of what makes the perfect hamburger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, included some brand-new ones and continued to leave off the ones I understand people like however I just. Maybe I have not attempted your favorite hamburger. Possibly I'm out to get you (just joking).

Let me share with you what makes the ideal burger for me. Let's begin with the patty.

When I bite in, I need to see a little shimmer, some shining from the beef and possibly a little grease diminishing the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always go with a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty must be burnt to assist lock in the juices, but not too crusty.